Demo Discussion

The Demo Discussion is a strategy I use to provide an interesting and memorable in-class demonstration of complex concepts that my students will learn about in class on a given day, using a variety of digital resources. The Demo Discussion is an excellent way to promote student curiosity about scientific phenomena. The "demos" provide access points for my students to witness and wonder about complicated chemical processes that they will eventually explore and understand at a much deeper level. By leveraging additional physical and digital tools, I can facilitate in-depth analysis and support the development of models to explain the science behind the demo. This strategy also allows me to surface my students' questions and interests about the day's Learning Targets (please see the "Learning Targets" strategy video), to which I can refer and make connections throughout our exploration of that content.

This Justify - Think, Pair, Share - Compare (J-TPS-C) template is a spin-off of the classic “think, pair, share” strategy used by teachers for years. My goal in tweaking this activity is to have my students understand that justifying their responses with evidence and then comparing them to accepted literature is a valuable part of the scientific process. We say time and time again that any claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, and students reflect that sentiment by justifying their claims with evidence-based reasoning.

This Justify - Think, Pair, Share - Compare (J-TPS-C) template is a spin-off of the classic “think, pair, share” strategy used by teachers for years. My goal in tweaking this activity is to have my students understand that justifying their responses with evidence and then comparing them to accepted literature is a valuable part of the scientific process. We say time and time again that any claims made without evidence can be dismissed without evidence, and students reflect that sentiment by justifying their claims with evidence-based reasoning.

About this strategy

Similar Strategies

The Candy Land Path is a Candy Land-style trail that runs across several walls in my classroom. Each tile on the trail represents a lesson my students have to master in order to advance in the course. This strategy allows my students' progress to be seen and followed on a day-to-day basis, ultimately giving transparency to the learning process. This is a powerful visual tool for every student - especially for over- and under-achievers - and allows me to reframe school as a learning journey and progression as opposed to just working for a grade. The Path also brings an element of fun to the classroom while preserving its motivational purpose.

Planning is an essential part of a blended teacher’s practice. In blended environments, where students can be at different points in a course on various modalities, blended teachers need to be very intentional about how they plan. Check out the video below to see how Ben plans for instruction in his blended classroom.

There are only 4 rules in my classroom. The four rules are 1) Be respectful - I will always talk to students respectfully so there is no reason for students to talk to either myself of their peers with disrepect. 2) Always sit in your assigned seat - seating assignments are always projected in the front of the room so there is no reason to be confused about where to sit. No negotiations. 3) No talking during independent time - this doesn't need much explanation. 4) Technology is used for learning. Their devices should only be used to watch instructional videos otherwise it's too easy to get sucked into the vast abyss of the internet.